Leon woke to the sound of chaos coming from the kitchen.
There was a loud clang of metal. A sharp sizzle. Then a quiet curse—someone clearly trying not to make too much noise.
He blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the soft morning light seeping through the cracks in the shutters. For a second, he just sat there, confused. Their place was usually silent. Noise meant something was wrong.
But he felt... good. Really good.
His body didn't ache like it usually did after a long day of fighting. The soreness from yesterday was gone. No throbbing joints. No stiff muscles. He stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders—it felt like he had just come back from a full-body massage.
He guessed it was probably the new regeneration ability gained from the monsters.
Another loud crash snapped him out of the thought.
And the smell of burnt eggs started to fill the air.
With a small sigh and a half-smile, Leon got up and made his way to the kitchenb. Each step felt light, like his body had finally caught up to the strength he'd taken in.
In the kitchen, he found the source of the disaster: Kai, locked in a one-sided war against a frying pan.
The eggs were stuck. The counter was covered in broken shells. The spatula was jammed halfway into the pan like someone had tried to stab the food into submission.
Leon leaned against the doorframe, amused.
"...What. are. you. doing?" he asked, voice low and scratchy from sleep, but with a clear smile behind it.
Kai jumped, nearly burning himself, clearly surprised that someone managed to sneak up on him, but he just attributed it to the fact that he was too focused on "cooking", and that it was his brother approaching, not someone with hostile intent.
"Damn it—don't sneak up on me like that!" he hissed, turning red. "I didn't hear you come down."
Leon tilted his head. "Hard not to with all this commotion. You fighting the eggs?"
Kai rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. He looked embarrassed, caught in the middle of a very failed attempt at being helpful.
"I was trying to make breakfast..." he muttered, quieter now. "You came back all beat up last night. Thought maybe I'd let you sleep in."
Leon blinked.
That hit harder than he expected. Not in a painful way—more like something soft hitting a spot he didn't know was sore.
He always did the cooking. The cleaning.
But this time, Kai noticed. And tried.
Without saying much, Leon walked over, took the spatula gently from his brother's hand, and shook his head with a small grin.
"Yeah, let's not starve to death. Go sit down."
Kai mumbled something under his breath, most likely a curse word, but he obeyed. No sign of an Awakened prodigy in sight.
Leon tossed out the burnt remains and started fresh. A few eggs. Some toast. Soup from last night.
The kitchen filled with the warm smell of a simple but hearty breakfast.
They ate quietly, the kind of silence that didn't feel awkward. The clinking of forks, the soft sounds of chewing, and the occasional creak of the old kitchen chair were all that filled the space.
Eventually, Kai started talking about his day at the Academy. No raids this time. Just theory, combat drills, and a lecture that nearly put him to sleep. He mentioned a spar that got too heated and a classmate who tripped while trying to show off. Leon listened, nodding here and there, the edge of a smile resting on his face.
But behind his calm expression, something else was building. A question. One he'd been holding onto since last night.
He didn't know how to bring it up, or even if he should. But it kept pulling at him.
Kai paused mid-bite, then raised an eyebrow. "You're staring."
Leon blinked. "What?"
"You're doing that weird thinking face again," Kai said, leaning back in his chair. "Just say it already."
Leon hesitated for a second, then scratched the back of his head.
"…Can I get a bit of your blood?"
Silence hit like a wall.
Kai stared at him, fork still frozen in his hand.
"…Huh?"
Leon raised his hands, trying to calm the reaction before it spiraled. "Just a small amount. I'm not gonna chug it or anything."
Kai blinked slowly. "Do I even want to know why?"
Leon remained tight lipped. "Get Stronger"
He didn't go into details. He didn't know how to explain it all.
Kai looked him over, still skeptical. "And what's my blood got to do with that?"
Leon glanced at his brother. The prodigy. The one with "Accelerated Growth." The one who could improve with barely a push.
"I think it might help me push past my limits." he said simply.
Kai didn't say anything right away. He sighed, his jaw tightened slightly, but his eyes softened a little—like maybe he understood.
Then he stood up without a word and left the room. A few minutes later, he came back with a small but clean bottle and a fresh bandage on his arm.
"…If this turns you into some kind of freak, I'm the first to put you down."
Leon chuckled. "Alright."
⸻
Leon sat on the cold bathroom floor, the tiles hard and chilly beneath him. In his hand, he held a small plastic bottle filled with dark red blood—his brother Kai's blood. The overhead light flickered softly, casting a dull yellow glow across the room.
He stared at the bottle, calm and focused. This wasn't a random idea. It wasn't something he had decided on a whim.
No—this had been building since yesterday.
Ever since he started eating those Scavvers.
At first, he didn't know what would happen. But as soon as he consumed them—their blood, flesh, his body reacted. Not in the way he expected. It didn't blindly absorb everything. Instead, it filtered. It broke everything down and removed the parts that were weak, unstable, or dangerous. Only the best, purest part of each monster was kept.
The rest? His body got rid of it, like it was trash.
It was like his body had its own mind, one that only wanted what would make him better—and nothing else.
It didn't matter where it came from. Monster or Human.
If it was strong, if it was pure, his body would keep it, refine it, and slowly make it part of him.
In the case of the scavvers, his body rejected 99.99% of it, as it had very impure and corrupting blood.
But with that, he received an ability and a 0.01% increase in talent.
And now, in his hand, was blood from a bloodline countless times purer than he had tasted before.
Kai's blood.
His brother wasn't normal. He was a prodigy. His strength didn't just come from training or fighting harder than everyone else. No, Kai had something inside him—something natural. A kind of power that was built into his blood from the moment he awakened. A talent that made him grow faster and stronger than most Awakened, even those from powerful clans or famous families.
Leon had always admired that.
And now… now he had a chance to touch that same power.
Because his body wasn't like anyone else's, either.
It didn't just copy. It used it to enhance.
It didn't just take in power—it chose the most important, purest and precious part of it. The part that mattered. The core. The essence.
And once it had that, it could build upon it on its own.
He didn't need to drink a whole gallon of blood. Just this one bottle, even a drop would have sufficed, but this also sped up the process.
So, without any fear or doubt, Leon raised the vial to his lips and drank.
Gulp.
Gulp.
Gulp.
The blood slid down his throat smoothly. It was warm. Strangely Familiar.
But it felt like it was a more supreme version of his blood.
More Powerful.
There was no pain. No burning.
His body accepted it right away.
No rejection. No resistance.
It was a perfect match.
Of course, it made sense. This was Kai's blood, his own brother. Their genetics were already close. But more than that, his body had already processed monster blood the day before, it was accustomed to strange properties.
But this blood… this was on a whole different level.
He could feel it as soon as it entered him. A soft, quiet shift deep inside. Not in his muscles. Not on the surface.
No, this was deeper than that.
It was his core. His talent. His essence.
It was like something small had been planted inside him. Something powerful. Something alive.
And then—something more.
A flicker of understanding passed through him.
He could feel his body breaking the blood apart, piece by piece, like it was searching for treasure hidden inside. And when it found that treasure—the purest part—it kept it. Absorbed it. And started turning it into his own, enhancing his talent, slowly but surely, he felt that if he finished absorbing it, perhaps surpassing his brother's talent slightly wasnt out of the question.
Then, suddenly, he felt it. A spark. Like a whisper in the back of his mind.
He instinctively knew.
This was [Accelerated Growth]. Perhaps even a slightly elevated version of it.
His own version of it.
It was still faint. Still growing.
But it was there.
He could sense its enormous potential.
Leon's eyes widened. His heart pounded.
He was happy—no, more than that. He was ecstatic.
He was right to try this!
It would take time. He could feel that too. Maybe a week, maybe more. His body was still working, still integrating everything. The full effect hadn't hit yet. But it was happening—bit by bit.
And once it finished?
He knew it would change everything.
He could eat 50... no 100 scavvers without stopping.
He exhaled slowly and set the empty bottle down beside him. His eyes closed.
And for the first time in a long time, he felt something strong and clear in his chest.
Ambition.